Police in the town of Subotica, in northern Serbia, have detained one person and charged eight on suspicion of illegal border crossing and human trafficking as they tried to smuggle Syrians through Serbia into the European Union (EU).

Serbian authorities have arrested 29 police officers, nine customs officials and one other person whom they accuse of letting people illegally cross the border into neighboring Hungary, a member of the European Union (EU), in exchange for bribes.

Only one in seven people in the world live in a place where coverage of politics in the media is robust and journalists can work without legal and economic problems, according to a report released by Freedom House today.

Thousands of protesters gathered outside the Hungarian Parliament building on Sunday,to ask visiting German chancellor Angela Merkel for her help in opposing corruption and autocratic policies in Hungary.